Today's winter salad: Chopped fennel and apple served atop orange rounds. This is a decidedly savory fruit salad but is topped by not-to-be-missed candied black walnuts brightened with orange zest. Vegan. Story goes that Cajun culturist Justin Wilson, when asked what's for supper, will answer with his own question, "Whaddaya got?" and then decide. Do you cook in that inspired, improvisational way? If so, I bow in homage! Me, nearly always I am a "recipe cook" who starts with a list of ingredients, albeit one who then tugs and twists those ingredients to simplify techniques and match my idea of what's good and what's healthy. Last week, the Missouri Organic Association hosted its annual conference here in St. Louis and three local chefs and three local bloggers teamed up for an Iron Chef-style cookoff. Talk about cooking outside my comfort zone – in public! But I must say, talk about a total kick , thanks to my collaborator chef Pat Long from Ca

It's easy to find exactly the right vegetable recipe here at A Veggie Venture, my online collection of seasonal vegetable recipes. Most visitors start with the Alphabet of Vegetables or Vegetable Recipes by Course . But A Veggie Venture is more than vegetable recipes! It's also packed with vegetable-inspired extras. So I've created this collection of "Special Stuff" – writing and resources that I hope readers find helpful and informative now that they're in one place and easy to find. Click away, browse around. It's the new "garden" of information for vegetable lovers! PS Are you looking for something specific? Not finding what you'd hoped to find? Let me help! Just leave a quick note in the comments below or via recipes@kitchen-parade.com . ~Alanna